Azmin Should Be Appointed As New Opposition Leader — Suara Pakatan Rakyat
NO matter how painful it is, Pakatan Rakyat has to accept the fact that Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s defense didn’t go very well today. As expected Dato’ Seri Anwar wasn’t convincing enough in his defense statement due to the court’s manipulation whereby the defense is not allowed to examine the evidence.
But Dato’ Seri Anwar is ever ready to face any possibility with strong faith. As a strong leader, Anwar would surely be able to continue fighting even from behind bars.
However, we can never brush aside the fact that PKR might be affected without Dato’ Seri Anwar’s leadership. The party had a hard time in 2004 General Election under Datin Seri Wan Azizah’s leadership when it managed to only retain 1 seat out 5 seats won in 1999.
Therefore, Pakatan Rakyat should be more pro-active and practical in our strategy to face the next G.E without Dato’ Seri Anwar as our leader.
Many agree that PAS President, Haji Hadi Awang is not the best candidate to fill in Anwar’s shoes as PAS has the least number of seats in Pakatan. Apart from that, Hadi is not a favourite candidate among the non-Malays for he is seen to be rigid in his fight for Islam. Moreover, Hadi had failed to lead Terengganu and had lost the state to BN in just a blink of an eye.
Lim Kit Siang is not the best candidate for the post too as his appointment would only distant the Malays from Pakatan Rakyat. PAS’s loyal supporters can never accept a non-muslim as their leader, what more with Kit Siang’s chauvinist reputation.
As such, the best person to succeed Anwar is none other than Azmin Ali, a young charismatic leader. Azmin’s close ties with Anwar should be taken positively whereby he has the opportunity to learn directly from Anwar. Only Azmin can truly understand Anwar’s aspiration and lead PR to bring BN down.
PR should not rely on outsiders like Ku Li to take over Anwar’s place as it would be dangerous. Ku Li is known for his disloyalty and is used to hop around just like Ibrahim Ali. Such an opportunist leader can never be trusted as he is loyal to no party but himself and will hop on to the next best opportunity that comes along.
In this case, again Azmin is seen as the best candidate for the post. His loyalty is unquestionable as it is rooted deep down in the heart of PKR. He is proven to be loyal to Anwar and will never turn his back on the man who is responsible for the rise of the Oppositions in Malaysia.
We believe Azmin will not let Anwar and the Malaysians down.
By: Azman Ariffin